Hi. This is Enzo F. Cesario with another edition of the Brandsplat Video Report. Today we’re talking to Petra Wennberg who is a Strategic Visual Designer. Hi Petra, how are you doing today?

PETRA: Great, thanks.

ENZO: Petra has designed for sites such as Microsoft, Toshiba, Yahoo, and a slew of Internet start-ups. Petra, what are some of the things you really try to drill down when you are designing a site on the Internet?

PETRA: For me it really boils down to four key questions. Who are you as a company? What do you do? Why do I care as a consumer? And how can I get it? And you should be able to do that enticingly by wrapping up both your visual design with your copywriting as well as with your structure of the site and your navigation.

ENZO: That’s kind of a lot of stuff to put together and to make it clear and concise. I know a lot of companies that try to put everything on their home page, for example. What are some tips you can give to help people understand that that’s not a good idea?

PETRA: Especially on your home page, it’s your chance to do your elevator pitch. You have a very short amount of time to capture the audience. You really need to make sure that you have your business strategy communicated in a clear way so that a user can come in and grasp it from you in just a few seconds.

ENZO: So, in your opinion, what are some web companies or websites that do that successfully?

PETRA: I think that a site that’s doing that well is Mint.com, a financial service company. They’ve been able to strip down their message – less is more – to really get their users to understand how their services are beneficial and how to sign up. Another one that I think is doing a good job is the lesser-known blurb.com that is doing custom-made books for users. They are also showing their product right up on the site and making it very easy for users to come in and sign up to get their own custom-made books.

ENZO: Great. So getting those four things across – you ask yourself who you are as a company, what do you do, why should I care as a consumer and how do I get your product or service. Those are four great things to get you started in having a really good piece of communication and a good interface. So, thank you Petra, thanks for being here today.

PETRA: Sure, thank you.

ENZO: You’re welcome. This is Enzo F. Cesario again, thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.